How to Boot a Gateway PC From CD ROM

By Contributing Writer

Updated September 28, 2017

Items you will need

  • Bootable CD-ROM disc

  • Gateway PC

The booting procedure for a Gateway PC is generally seamless: Once you turn the computer on, you can sit back as your PC reads the hard drive and starts up the operating system. However, sometimes it’s necessary to boot first from a CD-ROM disc, especially when you are troubleshooting or installing a new operating system. Setting up your Gateway PC to boot from CD-ROM is a straightforward process, but will require you to enter the system BIOS, which stores the settings related to the operation of your computer hardware.

Verify that your CD-ROM disc is bootable. Operating system discs are bootable. Insert the disc into the drive and restart your computer.

Press either the F1 or F2 key every second as soon as the boot screen appears to enter your computer’s BIOS menu. The BIOS access key varies based on the type of BIOS installed in your computer, but all Gateway desktops use either F1 or F2. If the Windows load screen appears, reboot and try again.

Find the boot priority setting under Boot Options in the BIOS menu. Use the arrow keys to navigate the menu and press "Enter" to select. If you get lost in the options, press "Esc" to return to the main menu.

Under Boot Options, select the First Boot Device and press "Enter." Select the CD-ROM option and press "Enter" again. You can also change the order of boot devices to include FLOPPY, HARD DISK or NETWORK. Press "Esc" to return to the main menu.

Press the F10 key to save settings to the BIOS and exit. The computer will now restart and read from the CD-ROM before it attempts to access the other boot devices.

Warnings

BIOS settings are crucial to the operation of your computer. Do not change any settings if you are not sure what you are doing. You can exit the BIOS at any time without saving.

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